Airship.



A. SUGDEN.

Patented June 9, 1914.

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A. SUGDEN.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14, 1913.

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' ALBERT suennn,

OF STRATFORD, ONTARIO, CANADA.

AIRSHIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 14, 1913. Serial N 0. 767,668.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A LBERT SUGDEN, a citi zen of Canada, residing at Stratford, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada,.have invented new and useful Improvements in Airships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to air craft, and consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, applicable to any of the various types of air craft in use, whereby reliable and eflicient sustaining, propelling and balancing means are produced.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 isfa central, vertical longitudinal section of an air craft embodying my invention. Fig.

' or pivoted to 4 and m rear. of its transverse center 2 is a sectional plan view on the line 22 of-Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the gearing for driving and controlling one of the pairs of pro-. pellers for driving and horizontally steering the craft. Fig. 5 is a vertical section through one of the bracket yokes and parts associated with one of the pairs of propellers for driving, backing and vertically steering the craft. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section showing the means for varyingthe working angles of and reversing said propellers. Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of one of the front propellers of a pair of driving, backing and vertical steering propellers. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section online 8-8 of Fig. 7. Fig.' 9 is a longitudinal section on line 99 of Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a boat-shaped car having a sloping forward. end 2, beneath which is arranged a vertical rudder 3 for steering the machine in a horizontal plane. The said rudder is hinged the end 2 and is connected with operating cords or ropes 4 and 5 lead'- ing inwardly into the car and by means of which the rudder may be swung laterally in either direction.

Hollow wedge-shaped, gas filled following or tandem planes 6 and 7 are provided form supporting surfaces, which may be employed or not in conjunction with a balloon or gas bag. These planes are normally inclined at an angle to the horizontal as shown. Each plane. is pivotally supported from the car in advance ofzits transverse center by a link 8, and is pivotally connected by a link 9 with a crank arm 10 on a transverse rock shaft 11 journaled in bearing brackets 12 on the car, said links normally extending vertically and the crank arms horizontally to support the planes in their normal inclined position adapted for straight flight. Other crank arms 13 normally project upward from the shafts 11 in a vertical plane and are connected by a longitudinally, extending link rod 14, having a threaded central portion 15 passing loosely through the arms of a bifurcated bracket 16. An operating wheel or unit 17 is held between the arms of the bracket from longitudinal movement on the link rod and has a threaded hub engaging said threaded surface 15, whereby the rod may be moved either forward or backward to tilt the planes to a greater or less angle up ordown whereby their angle of incidence may be varied to vary the lift or steer the machine in avertical plane. As shown, each plane comprises a bellows-like folding or collapsible body, and said planes are provided with valved inlet and exhaust connections 6*, 7, whereby hydrogen or other gas lighter than air maybe supplied to inflate the planesor allowed to exhaust to deflate said planes. One or. more rigid or flexible pipe 6 may connect the planes to maintain an equalization of gas pressure therein and to also serve if desired, as braces. When the planes are inflated they serve as 'aerostats adapted to sustain a portion of the load weight.

When said planes are deflated they act as ordinary aeroplane surfaces.

Arranged at suitable points are front and rear transverse'transmission shafts 18, which carry beveled pinions 19 meshing with beveled gears 20 on shafts 21, having respec- Patented June 9, 1914.

tivel chain drive connections 22 with front and rear motors 23, whereby the shafts 18 are continuously driven. The ends of each transverse shaft 18 project outwardly beyond the sides of the car and are journaled in sleeves or hollow shafts 24 carrying at their outer ends bracket yokes 25, which sleeves are in turn j ournaled in the brackets 12 and in brackets 26 beyond the sides of the car. On the projectin 18 are beveled pinions 2 meshing with similar pinions '28 on longitudinally extending propeller shafts 29, each of which has fixed thereto a pair'of propellers 30 and 31, arranged one in advance of the other. The propeller shafts 29' are journaled. for

rotation in the bracket yokes 25, which are fixedto the sleeves 24, whereby the bracket yokes are adapted to be swung or tilted in a Vertical plane by rotation of the sleeves at about the shafts 18 as centers of motion. By the construction and'arrangement described,

. the pairs or sets of propellers on each side of the frame are driven outwardly and in an opposite direction to the pairs or sets of 4 a hollow body having a front propeller blade or wing 32 arranged at one side of its center and a series of wings or rear propeller blades 33 properly pitched for propulsive effect. The hollow body is partitioned to form a spiral passage 34 extending from front to rear thereof, the front end of said passage being partially surrounded by the blade 32, whilethe rear end thereof is partially surrounded by one of the blades 33, said blades forming the front. and rear terminal walls of the passage. It will be thus apparent that in addition tothe propulsive effect of the blades, a current of air will .flow' through the spiral passage and form in eflect a screw of air on which the-pro-' peller will travel, thereby reducing slippage and increasing the force of propulsion. As

shown, the body of the propeller is provided at suitable points with air vanes 35 controlling doors or flaps 36 to regulate the discharge of air therethrough, whereby undue retention of the air is prevented.

Each rear pro eller 31 of a pair comprises a hub or sleeve 3 rigidly secured to the propeller shaft, an annular rim or. shield 38 forming an air channel and a series of two or more spiral blades-39 fixed to the sleeve and shield. The blades 39 are arranged so as to lie at such an angle as to cause the air to be banked or condensed within the shield, and increase the working thrust of the ropeller. By mounting the propellers in pairs in the manner described,:the blades of the rear propeller 31 of each pair impinge against the body of air compressed by the fore propeller 30 of the pair, whereby, the propulsive force of the rear propeller is increase As shown the rim or shield 38 is provided with vanes 41 and controlling doors or flaps 42, similar in constructionto the vanes 35 and doors or fla s 36 on each fore propeller 30, whereby an uecompression and accumulation of air is revented. I

11 order to provide means whereby the front and rear sets of propellers at each side of the machine may be tilted in a vertical plane, and reversed to act as brakes or propel the craft backward, as Well as to provide means whereby the propellers at each side of the craft may be tilted independently of the propellers at the opposite side thereof, the following construction of controlling means is employed: The inner end of the sleeve 24 of each bracket 25 is provided with a gear inion 43, the pinions of the brackets at eao side of the car being arranged to mesh with a longitudinally extending rack bar 44, toothed on its under side to engage the pinions, each rack bar being mounted to slide in bearings 46. Meshing with the toothed portions of the rack bars are pinions 47 mounted upon a pair of independent transversely disposed and co axially arranged control shafts 48, said control shafts being journaled in bearings 49 and each provided with an operating handle or lever 50, which handle or=lever carries a pawl or dog51 adapted to engage a rack 52, whereby each wntrol shaft may be locked in adjusted position. By rocking the shafts 48 to equal degrees and in the same direction, forwardly or rearwardly, it will be understood that all of the bracket yokes 25 may be tilted to adjust the propellers at each side of the car to the same degree either up.- ward or downward, so as to facilitate propulsion or steeringof the craft in a vertical plane. By 0 crating one lever 50 independently of t e other, the propellers at one side of the car may be tilted while the other propellers at the opposite side of the car are held in normal position, so that the machine may be banked or its lateral stability maintained. Furthermore, by simultaneously adjusting the levers 50 inopposite directions, one side set of propellers may be tilted upwardly and the other side set of propellers tilted downwardly, for maintaining lateral control or steering the machine laterally in either direction. The propellers may also be rotated within an arc of 180 to reverse themso that they will act as wind brakes to control the speed of the craft when occasion requires, or so that the craft may be propelled in a backward direction. I also provide at the front and rear of the machine oppositely disposed driving and steering propellers 53, which are fixed to the outer ends of shafts 5 1 to revolve in vertical planes. Between each pair of shafts 54 is disposed a transmission shaft 55, and on the inner ends of the shafts 54 are frietion clutch members 56 adapted to be engaged by friction clutch members 57 feathered to'the shaft 55. A bracket member 58 is adjustable laterally by means of a control lever 59 is provided whereby both friction members 57 may be thrown out of action or either thrown into action independently of the other, by which means power may be transmitted from the shaft I 55, which is constantly in action, to rotate either one of the propellers 53 for steering action. The shaft 55 carries a beveled pinion 60 meshing with a pinion 61' on a longitudinal shaft 62 driven by a sprocket drive 63 from the adjacent motor 23.

I claim An air craft including a car, separate and independent motors arranged at the front and rear of the car and having their shafts longitudinally disposed, drivin propellers at the sides of the car, front'an rear transverse shafts for driving said propellers, gearing between said shafts and the relatively inner ends of the shafts of the motors, steering propellers at each end of the car, transverse shafts for driving each set of propellers, a transmission shaft disposed between each pair of transverse shafts, clutch devices for connecting the transmission shaft with either of said transverse shafts, longitudinally extending transmission shafts in gear with the respective transverse transmission shafts, and gearing between the longitudinal transmission shafts and the relatively outer ends of the shafts of the respective motors.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT SUGDEN.

JOHN B. KENNEDY. 

